Bryon C. Harvey told police that he had been in an argument with his stepfather, Hal Cornell, at the south Kansas City home where they both lived.

Cornell's wife found his body in a partially filled backyard pool. A medical examiner determined that Cornell had died from blunt force trauma.

According to court records, Harvey told an intern at a nearby church that he killed his stepfather by hitting him in the head with a rock and later with a sledgehammer. He said he threw Cornell's body in the pool and didn't call police afterward.

Police said Harvey told them he was working to build a casket in the basement for the victim.